In this newsletter:
- Message from our Principal
- Term Dates
- Key Dates Calendar Launch!
- Principals welcome – Year 6 into 7
- Year 8 Parents Evening
- Year 9 Preference Deadline
- STAR Attendance
- Young Carers Day
- 850 people turn up for Art Exhibition
- NHS Vaccinations
- HAF FAQ’s
- Great Fen Wildlife – Easter Holiday Activities
Message from our Principal
“It has been an absolute pleasure to welcome our new Year 7 students and families to our Principal’s welcome events this week. The move up to secondary school is a big step for children (and parents), which is why we aim to help students and families familiarise themselves with the school as early as possible after they are offered a place with us.
I had the chance to speak to all families about our values as a school and about why we do things the way we do here. It is about maximising time for learners and ensuring consistent routines across the school so that students know exactly what to expect as they move from lesson to lesson. We want to ensure that all young people get the best out of the school so that they can achieve and be the best they can be for their next steps. Families were also able to speak to one of our teachers one-to-one to ask any initial questions they had and also to understand and sign up to our Commitment to Excellence; an agreement between the school, the parent and the student in which each promises to work in partnership to ensure the very best outcomes for the young person.
I am continuing to visit many of our feeder Primary Schools, as someone who has recently joined the St Ives community, and it has been really lovely to see so many siblings saying hello and asking if I know their big brother or sister.
I would like to also take this opportunity to highlight to parents of Year 11 and 13 students that our Easter Revision session timetable will be coming out shortly; those sessions are taking place in the first week of the holidays. Please look out for that email and sign up the students for the sessions to support their revision in the holidays.”
What’s been happening
Term Dates
2026/2027 term dates have been published – please see here.
Key Dates Calendar
We have published key dates until end of the summer term that can be viewed in the parent and carer hub or on the key dates page (found in about us).
We hope this helps you plan further in advance. You will still receive notifications about events closer to the date if they are relevant to you.
Year 6 into 7 Principals Welcome
On Tuesday and Wednesday we welcomed our incoming Year 6 students and their families to our Principal’s Welcome Evening, where they had the opportunity to meet our Principal and teaching staff and learn more about life at St Ivo ahead of September.
Each student received a personalised welcome pack containing:
- A branded pen
- Two bookmarks
- Sweets
- A sticker
- A school map to help students familiarise themselves with the site
- A student support booklet
- A student support card
- A family handbook to help families prepare for the transition
- A getting to know you activity
- A congratulatory postcard
- A personalised welcome letter
The getting to know you activity will be collected from students’ current primary schools ahead of the taster days so that we can begin to understand each student as an individual and ensure we are ready to support them from the moment they join us.
Thank you to our amazing year 7 and 9 students who supported with serving refreshments, handing our gift bags and guiding our parents to the right place! They were very well presented and communicated well with our families.
Year 8 Parents’/ Carers’ Evening
We would like to invite Year 8 parents/ carers to meet with subject teachers. This will be a great opportunity to discuss your child’s progress in this vital year.
Meetings will take place online, on Thursday 26 March from 4.00pm to 7.30pm.
Bookings open on Monday 16 March at 6am. To book an appointment, please go to https://stivo.schoolcloud.co.uk and enter the details required. Please note that only priority 1 and 2 contacts with parental responsibility will be able to logon. If you have any issues booking an appointment please contact the school office. Please note that appointments will close on Tuesday 24 March at 8am.
Year 9 Preferences Deadline
A gentle reminder that the deadline for submitting Year 9 preference subjects is Monday 16th March 2026. Please make sure your choices are completed and submitted before this date. If you need any support with this please get in touch.
NEW! STAR Attendance
Introducing the A Star Attendance System: Good attendance is essential to every child’s success at St Ivo Academy. To further strengthen how we monitor and support attendance, from Monday 16th March 2026 we will be moving to a new systemattendance monitoring system called A Star Attendance.
Please note:
There is no change to the way you report your child’s absence. Continue to follow the usual process for informing the attendance team on attendance@astreastivo.org
With the introduction of A Star Attendance, you will now receive attendance updates and other related communications by email. To ensure you receive these messages, please add noreply@astarattendance.com to your safe sender list so they do not go to your junk folder.
At St Ivo Academy, we are committed to working with all children and families to promote the importance of strong attendance and ensure everyone understands how vital it is to academic progress and wellbeing.
Young Carers Day – Wednesday 11th March 2026
Wednesday 11th March was Young Carers Action Day.
The theme this year is ‘Fair Futures for Young Carers’, a call to ensure every young carer has the same chances to learn, grow and thrive as their peers. Young carers face a huge array of challenges as a result of their caring role. Research shows many young carers are disadvantaged across multiple aspects of their lives, including mental and physical health, finances, education and employment.
It’s important that our young carers at St Ivo Academy are recognised and supported throughout their journey. Every Thursday Young Carers are invited to a lunchtime club in C4 with Mrs Evans, a time to play some games- uno is a favourite!
Also to enjoy a relaxed lunch and chat with other young carers from our school community.
ASHYAC Art Exhibition
On Saturday 7th March it was St Ivo’s turn to host the annual Huntingdonshire Area Young Artists Competition exhibition. It was a wonderful community event full of colour, skill, pride and positivity. 37 local primary and secondary schools entered over 300 pieces of their students’ best art work. The show opened at 11am and attracted a steady trickle of visitors up until about 1:30pm when it felt like the whole town arrived for the awarding of the prizes which began at 3pm.
The hall was completely full. Over the course of the day 850 children, parents, grandparents, teachers, friends and interested members of the public came to look at and vote for the art work on display.
Successes for St Ivo students were as follows: Winner Art year 8 – Scarlett Goodwin Winner Digital Art KS5 – Ruby Charter People’s Choice Award – Scarlett Dale Many other St Ivo students’ work was highly commended by the judges. Well done to everyone who took part.
NHS Vaccinations
HAF FAQ’s for Parents
Great Fen Easter Holidays
